translated from Spanish: Green light for the election of the first Attorney General of the country

with the definitive approval in the Chamber of deputies of the law organic of the General’s Attorney, left free land for the legislature and the Executive to carry out the process performance analysis and selection of the person who will lead the new institution. However, the approved standard left out amendments and proposals seeking to civil society to provide it with greater autonomy.
Whoever is elected as the first Attorney General of the country not only will be responsible for directing the institution but design, in a period of one year, a “Plan strategic transitional” from a diagnosis of human resources, material and financial, which today has the Attorney General of the Republic – which disappears – as well as cases that leaves earrings.
But in addition the Prosecutor shall prepare a public call to study constitutional reforms and legal modifications that civil society and experts proposed and that, for now, were outside the norm approved by the senators and the Deputies.
Then Animal politician presents which is the procedure that will be followed for the election of the Prosecutor in accordance with the Constitution (that in turn provides the possibility that there is a fiscal interim), and what are the outstanding points that the collective citizen # Fiscaliaquesirva boost to be part of an eventual reform.
What follows: the Prosecutor-elect members approved without any change the opinion that the Senate had sent them to issue the law of the General Prosecutor of the Republic. It is expected this week to be sent to the Executive so that, in turn, publish it in the official journal of the Federation and enters into force.
This will allow Congress to make a formal statement with which the current PGR is extinct and is born the new autonomous Prosecutor.
Fulfilled the above will formally start the procedure for the election of the holder of the public prosecutor which consists of three steps.
First: The Senate will have twenty days to draw up a list of ten candidates for the office of the Prosecutor which must be approved by, at least, the vote of two-thirds of the senators. This list will send to the President.
(If this period should elapse while the Senate make the relationship of ten candidates, the Presidency could produce a slate of three to send it to the senators and designate, meanwhile, a provisional tax).
Second: once the Presidency have formally with the list of 10 candidates, the Senate will have ten days to choose three of them and will send them for consideration to the high Chamber.
(If the special case that the Executive does not send the triplet in the referred period, senators may choose to the Prosecutor from the list of ten candidates)
Third: Once received the shortlisting of the Presidency, the Senate will be mentioned candidates to appear and present his candidacy for the post, and shall elect among them the Attorney General. All this within a period of ten days.
(In the special case that the Senate not elected the Prosecutor in the term that the Constitution, the Presidency will choose the Attorney among the final three candidates).
It should be noted that the PGR is currently in charge of the Attorney General Alejandro Gertz Manero who cannot become automatic in new Attorney General.
However, in a statement issued yesterday, the collective #FiscalíaQueSirva expressed concern that Gertz is appointed as general coordinator of the new prosecution, second charge of greater weight in the structure of the institution and which does not require a public selection procedure.
What was left pending: constitutional reform and changes to the law for greater autonomy or the Chamber of Senators and deputies agreed to include – for now – a series of changes and proposals that the collective #FiscalíaQueSirva had proposed to provide greater autonomy to the Attorney General’s Office.
In transitory article thirteen approved law was established that within a year be convened to a process to analyze and run these changes in your case. However, civil society specialists indicated that they will seek changes to materialize from the first half of 2019.
The primary request driven by the collective, and that it was pending, is a constitutional reform to article 89 and 102 of the Constitution which regulates the procedure of selecting the Attorney general. The proposal for civil society is that excluded the participation of the President in the appointment and removal of the public prosecutor and, on the other hand, believed a citizens Committee of designations which work with the Senate appointments.
Another amendment proposed by the collective and that postponed fu is the modification of various transitory articles of the approved law posed that, automatically, the human resources of the PGR will form part of the new public prosecutor’s office.
According to experts this puts at risk a real transition from the PGR to an autonomous prosecution and could favour only a name change or simulation. The proposal making, on the other hand, is that PGR personnel is subjected to a process of selection and assessment in accordance with the Strategic Plan of transition that the Attorney-General design.
In addition civil society organizations also propose changes to narrow the functions of the General Coordinator, public servant of higher hierarchy within the new institution, only after the Attorney-General. Among them is sought that his appointment may be checked and, if necessary, revoked by the Senate.
You argue experts for this change is that the figure of the Coordinator was too empowered in the new law, powers attributed to him as the standards and policies of the research units, check the career professional service resolving conflicts of competence, supplementing permanently to the Prosecutor, among others.
The proposal is the functions outlined above will delimit and the designation of the same process to be changed. So to avoid that, ultimately, the Attorney General’s Office that should be autonomous have de-facto a “second Prosecutor” in the figure of the Coordinator, but without counterweights selected.
The collective #FiscalíaQueSirva also stressed that it is important to make amendments to the law so that the Institute of expert services and forensic sciences that was founded with the Prosecutor’s Office is recognized as a part of it but not tell (as you were captured the approved law) with a Council made up of prosecutors, since this could limit your technical autonomy.
On the other hand, intends to add a new article detailing the functions of the Institute for services expert. Among those functions would be, for example, to create a national database of genetic information that gather the information of DNA from relatives of missing persons.
Among other proposed changes pending is the inclusion of a list of serious acts by which the Attorney General can be removed, and specify the appointment of officials according to the career service.
The new Attorney General last September Animal politician unveiled the draft of the opinion in which specified the new functions of the Attorney General. Subsequently made some modifications in the Senate, but the proposed overall structure remained.
The new Attorney General, as well as the PGR, will be responsible for investigating the crimes of the federal order. But the central difference is that it will be an autonomous body for now won’t be one federal dependency more, nor its owner will be under the hierarchical leadership of the President of the Republic.
As he was already explained the Attorney-General will be appointed and removed in a procedure that involves both the legislature and the Executive. There is also four special prosecutors: anti-corruption, electoral crimes, human rights and internal affairs, whose incumbents will be appointed by the Attorney general, in a procedure that may be revised and objected to by the Senate.
One of the most innovative of the new institution is that its performance shall be governed by the so-called “prosecution plan”, that is the strategy that the Attorney general should be defined to guide the human and material resources of the institution in accordance with the crime incidence you are looking for attack. This plan must have clear goals and indicators to assess whether the strategy is met or not.

Original source in Spanish